Coupler



Aug. 23,1 1932. H H SERWCE i 1,873,494A

COUPLER Filed May 20, 1.930A

MNH 19 Patented Aug.v 23, 19,32 l

f arent-f oFHCEp-Lj I y, Appiieation 'leav'nay ao; 1920. serial 116,454,002.' Y

My inventionris lmore especially intended i for use in connection with what is Vknown vas an American Railway Association -type `4`D couplerand the inventionrelates more particularly to means whereby lthe coupler is maintained in locked positionl A In thespeciic embodiment of thevinvention, it comprises a special type of lock lifter which is adapted to the present .standardy type lof coupler, whereby a wedging relation is effected tomaintain the vlock lifter in anti- Acreep position orrelation with the coupler head or main body.

vThe objects and advantages of my inventionv will be Vreadily comprehended from'the detailed description ofl the accompanying drawing, wherein i. v i i e Figurell is aside elevation of a coupler, with Aparts broken away and shown inl section to disclose'my improved lock lifter whichV .lock lifter as employed in thepresent standard type of A. R. A. coupler as illustrated in the drawing, wherein the mainV head or'body of the coupler is shown at 10 which is formed to provide the usual chamber in which,` the Vrespective elements of the coupler areY located; the top of the chamber and therefore the top wall of the coupler body Ahaving an opening 11; while the rear wallof'the cham- Yber has a depending portion orrearwall 12 for the purpose hereinafter set forth. Y

The coupler lniuckle 13 is swingingly held in place by the usual pin '14 shownI in dotted lines;` and the knuckle is `provided with `the usual tail 15 which extends into the chamber end of thethrower, causing thek latter to os- 'the 4lock lifter 23,:shwn in perspective in yFigure il.; f

tosay, thetrunnions 22, 22 normallyare lo- `cated"adjacent tothevrear end of the recesses formed in the couplerfbody 10 and whichis held in locked position by thelockblock or member 16. v A ,1 .f o e The 'lock member 16 has a depending. leg Y 17 Vwhich onits rear edge isprovided with a150 lockset lseat 18 which. permitsthe lock mem -ber to rest or seat on the 'knuckle-thrower or f .kicker l9.when the coupler is setfo'r; coupling operation. `The thrower or kicker 19 is oscillatingly mounted in the coupler?VV head inthey usual manner so that `when .the lock 16 is lifted into coupler unlocking position, the leg 17 of the lock 16 will engagethe adjacent cillate, vthereby forcing its opposite end against the tail of the knuckle and moving Y theflatter intouncoupling position, as shown ,inFigure2 i The lock block'or member16 in its upper end isvertically slotted as shown at 20,',which slopes and curves upwardly at the yfrontend of the slotfsec FigureA 3'; the slot 20 being extended and also opening .at the rear side of the lock member 16. l 1 This slotat its lower'endois laterally enlarged .to provide recesses as Vshown at 21 in Figure 3 to-receive the la'terallyextending trunnions 22, 22, formed on the lower end'of The trunmons 22, 22far`e adapted to slide in' theupwardly slopingy enlarged lower end or recesses21 of theslot 20 in the lock member 16 duringoperation of the coupler; Thatis Y in the rlock .member 16, thus, during unlock-V ing operation, exerting Ian upwardlvipullion thelock member'at apoint rearward of its center of gravity sothat there is a constant "S5 tendency lfor the dependingvileg 17 :of the lock memberlG` to swing rearwardly assoon as 'the lockmemberislifted` H fl Further upward movementiofrthe-lock f member -16 causes its 'fulcrum point Vor for- @0 oo y ward extension l24 to strike theshoulder 2.5 within the coupler head 10. Engagement of the extension 24 with the shoulder 25 causes Vthe lock member 16 to rotate about its fulcrum 24 thereby positively moving the lock leg 17 rearwardly so as to oscillate the knuckle c thrower or kicker 1 9. Y

-ing or moving upwardly during train operh Y ation. Positive upward movement or pulling The lock lifter 23, adjacent to its lower endk and on what may be termed the rear edge, is provided withthe somewhat stepped eXten-r sion or projection 26. This projection26 is adapted tounderlie the lower edgeiof the rear wall portion 12.when the coupler isinlocked position, as shown in Figure 1. This projection and arrangement is Aintended tomprle-V vent the lifter and lock memberfrom'-creepon the lifter 23 causes the trunnionspf thelat-y ter to slide forward and upward in the slopingfrecesses of the slot in thejlock member and freeithe engagementfof the projection26 with the depending rear wall 12. Y

It hasbeen found in practice, however, in the typeofcoupler herein defined,"that the so-called anti-creep lfeatures,-viz. .projection 26 and` rear wall lug or extension 12ffail to function at all times'and thus allow '--the lifter and lock member to move into funlocking position andhence permit the coupler to moveto uncoupling position; this undesirable movement being due tothe fact .that the *trunnions 22of the lifter 23 creep forwardly in recesses 21 of the slot 20 inthelock inember16, causing the Vextension orprojection' `26 to moveaway from the rear wall extensionf12.

` i vThis permits 4the lock member'16 with the lifter 23, due to constant vibrationf'during `Azrain operation, tol gradually move upwardly out of knuckle holding or locking position.

My invention is especially designed to prevent this undesirable, accidental `movement of z the coupler elements.

I therefore provide the lifter 23, on-its forward sideV and adjacent the'lower slightly rearwardly curved en-dfthereof, with a forwardly disposed `projection 0r lug 27 seen more clearly in Figure 4.

The projection or lug 27 issio formed and made of such size that it will contact with the forward upwarly slopingbottomwall of the slot 20 in the lock block 16 when the extension or anti-creep projection 26 is inv engaging re- V'lation'with' the rear wall projection v12while the lock block 16 is in the coupler locking posif.tion shown inFigure 1'; the lugV 27 being ar-` ranged substantially vin thesame horizontal plane as the notch jin lug 26 and with the Vforward end of the curved face of lug 27 riding in the bottom of the slot it'eXerts a pressure in a horizontal direction `toward the rear and Vhence holds the notchor recess of lug 26 in engagement with the wall .projec- Ltion 12.

' With theV projection or lug 27, improperor accidental upward movement of thelock block 16 and movement ofthe lifter 23 out ofanticreep positionwill be prevented because the projection or-,lug 27 is in contact withand bears against theforward upwardly sloping tends to force the lower end rearwardly and surface'of the slot in the lock block 16 which vmaintain the lower end of the lifter 23 With its anti-creeplextension26 in position against the depending rearY wall portion or anti-creep lug 12 of the coupler head 10`and thus prevents thepossibility ofthe lock block 16 acci- 'dentallyshiftingtounlocking positionzwhenthe coupler body or-head 10 strikes the bufting blocken any adjacent ca r or locomotive. l r With-the`lug27 located adjacent to the lower and'somewhatrearwardly curved end of -the lifter element 23 andV substantially in the Asame horizOIltalcplane as the notch or vdepression-'in the stepped projection 27, it is apparent that a direct upward rpullon-the lifter Vwill cause thelug-27tobe moved upwardly out of Y contact withl thelower-'wall'.oftheslot 2O in V.the lock block y16 vallowing the lowerend of the lifter to Qmove forwardly in theslot and thus permit the anti-creep projection 26.0f

Y thelifter to .move Lout of interengaging rela# i tion; with thedepending rearwalliportion 12 I have shown a specic eXemplificationio-f Y Vmyinvention as applied to a standard type of 5A. R; A.Ycouple radapted for whatisknown as top operation ofthe lifter element and have vdescribed the same in terms employed merely as terms of description and notas terms'of limitation, l.as structural modifications`areL possible' and maybe made without, however, departing from the spirit'of :my invention'.

(What I' claim'is: 7 A coupler of the class described comprising a chambered coupler head having an opening in its top and a depending rear wall portion in the` chamber 5 a verticallymovablef;

-lock fmember in said .chamber 'providedfin les its upper end with' a vslot having abottomwall f sloping upwardly towardithe front side of the .member,thelower rear end of the slot havinglelongated recesses on opposite'sidesg?` `a` lifter fmember lhavingv ilaterally disposed trunnions seated in saidrecesses of the klock member, the rear sideof thelifter member having a lrecessed projection-adapted to eni gage with the YrearY wall projection -in .the

chamber while the forwardv side ofthe Alifter j member above the kj plane. ofthe frtrunnions has `a Evforward projecting dug, having ,a 4-curved surfacepat its tip,` said lug-'being disposed [substantially in the same horizontal plane as the recess in the rear projection of the lifter, the curved tip of said lug contacting with the upwardly sloping bottom wall of the Yslot in the lock member and thereby Y exerting rearward force on the lower end of the lifter and maintaining the rear recessed projection in Contact with the depending wall portion of the head,whereby accidental upward movement of the lock member is prevented.

` HENRY I-I. SERVICE. 

